When the official trailer for Them dropped last month, it brought about mixed thoughts. Set in the 1950s the series follows a black family who integrates into a predominantly white neighborhood in Compton. But things take a sinister turn when the family is met with not only supernatural forces, but extreme racial violence from their white neighbors. Now, viewers are labeling the show as “trauma porn.”
Starring Shahadi Wright Joseph of similar horror project Us, fans immediately noticed the similarity between Jordan Peele’s blockbuster hit and Lena Waithe-produced Them. Though both involve black families facing frightening encounters and peril, the two actually couldn’t be more different.
After the Emory family makes their move from North Carolina to California, white neighbors nearby waste no time terrorizing them. First, they poured sugar in their gas tank, and strung up black dolls around their home, akin to a lynching. But as fans debate, Them goes too far in its display of racial violence.
Spoiler Alert: We’re about to detail a specific episode that shocked many viewers into turning off the series.
Midway through the season, the horror show depicts a black mother being sexually assaulted while her baby is murdered by white people. Later, a white mob burns a black couple to death, leaving viewers wondering if the extreme visuals of torture and violence were necessary to show.
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Many took an issue with Waithe directly, saying that the screenwriter-director has a history of showing black trauma and offering no resolution or justice through her fiction. 2019’s Queen & Slim was also used to back up the notion that Waithe, unlike Peele, leaves viewers wanting better for the black characters on-screen.
“Once again we have a piece of media that believes Black trauma porn is Black horror. This is why Peele is a top dog,” one user tweeted. “He knows how to blend Black horror & social commentary effortlessly. Twice Lena Waithe has proven she has no business screenwriting Black stories.”
Once again we have a piece of media that believes Black trauma porn is Black horror. This is why Peele is a top dog. He knows how to blend Black horror & social commentary effortlessly. Twice Lena Waithe has proven she has no business screenwriting Black stories. https://t.co/U13AI2hQjh
— biscuit baptiste (@StorySorcery) April 10, 2021
If you’ve ever seen Queen & Slim, then you’d never willingly watch another Lena Waithe project. I was rooting for homegirl but baby Black trauma is never the wave. I need more Jordan Peele horror and not this.
— Some Fat girl with daddy issues (@fuckbeanzo) April 10, 2021
Another viewer wrote about the backlash, “Lena Waithe is beyond problematic at this point. I don’t care whether you a writer or a creator but I am sick of black pain porn in my entertainment. It was never good and it is still not good. Just stop.”
Lena Waithe is beyond problematic at this point.
I don’t care whether you a writer or a creator but I am sick of black pain porn in my entertainment. It was never good and it is still not good. Just stop.
— TV Fanatic?
(@TvKhaleesi) April 10, 2021
#THEM is the most depressing traumatic piece of ass show I’ve ever seen. Amazing cast but that story line is just evil. One thing about Lena Waithe is that she will make sure black people suffer in whatever film or show she’s apart of making?
— kick kick kick (@KickSwagowski) April 9, 2021
Creator and executive producer of Them, Little Marvin, discussed the series’ backlash and defended the show’s depiction of racial violence, telling Los Angeles Times “There’s nothing more emblematic of that than owning one’s home. There’s great pride in that, particularly for Black people,”
“But as you know, it’s been anything but a dream. It’s been a nightmare for Black folks.”
